[Krawczynski] Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore in serious talks to become the next owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves

[BlacJacMac]

It's simple to enforce. Yes it would involve the NBA not sanctioning the team playing anywhere else. That's not complicated in any way.

So you want the NBA, as a whole, to also be a signing party in the sale contract?

They already are. Any sale of a team in the NBA has to be approved by the NBA.

Not the same thing at all.

The NBA isn't going to be a 3rd party in the sale of a franchise and open themselves up to potential litigation.

[KGdaBom]

So you want the NBA, as a whole, to also be a signing party in the sale contract?

They already are. Any sale of a team in the NBA has to be approved by the NBA.

Not the same thing at all.

The NBA isn't going to be a 3rd party in the sale of a franchise and open themselves up to potential litigation.

The NBA is involved. The NBA is the sanctioning body for where a team plays their games. They have to choose to approve or deny the venue where the team plays. They can't simply not get involved. They are involved.
I've made my point. Enforcing a no move clause agreed to in a contract could easily be done. This is a moot point as there is no anti-move language in the sale of the Wolves.
I believe that Orbach has a very strong case regarding the sale. I hope the courts side with him. It's the right thing to do.

[BlacJacMac]

The NBA is not going to do that.

Do you not see that there is a big difference between deciding that a team can or can not move in real time, vs proactively saying a team can never move?

The NBA is not going to paint themselves into that corner. Today they may say there is no way they want the Wolves to move, but who is to say what the landscape will be in 5, 10 or 20 years?

[BlacJacMac]

Enforcing a no move clause agreed to in a contract could easily be done. This is a moot point as there is no anti-move language in the sale of the Wolves.

Maybe there is no anti-move language because its not enforceable...

[jpatrick]

The short answer is that in a lot of cases just because two parties agree to something doesn’t mean a court will later enforce it if one of the parties wants to violate that clause. Just the nature of contract law.

The classic example is you enter an amusement park, by buying the ticket you waive any right to sue for things that happen there. You slip on a spilled drink and sue the amusement park. Guess what, that waiver you agreed to by buying a ticket, in all likelihood, not enforceable.

Here you have two complex parties with tons of lawyers but a blanket restriction on movement probably not enforceable in a court. It’s just not.

[thekorean]

TWolves ae not moving. NBA wants that expansion money from Vegas and Seattle group, first of all. Secondly MSP is a relatively large market with lots of corporate money. Aside from Seattle you are not gonna find a market like MSP. Third, if new ownership cries wolf about the arena, then they can move down the road to St.Paul.

[Neeva]

I will believe expansion when I see it..:

[Nick K]

There is no evidence they want to move the team. All things point to them wanting to stay here. They have purchased real estate here and are getting involved in the community.

I'll worry about them moving the team when that time comes, if ever.

[younggunsmn]

Let me just put it this way, Glen Taylor built his fortune using lawyers and legalese to his advantage.
If there was a binding way to put keeping the team here into a contract, he would have found it.
He just got called out by a partner on using a fake 3-year transition in an attempt to prevent the buyers from having to buy out a minority shareholder(s?). Glen is as slick and dirty as they come even if he has proven to know absolutely nothing about basketball.

It's just very hard if not nearly impossible to put post-transfer conditions into place when an asset changes hands.
You kind of lose the right to tell someone what to do with an asset once you give it up.
The same is often true with inheritance issues.
Now if he sells an asset and that asset has a binding contract with a 3rd party, the buyer inherits that contract and is bound to it.
But a penalty for breaking a lease is only as enforceable for as much as you can prove damages.

The NBA is in a tough spot because there are certain rules they have to play by to steer clear of antitrust issues.
The have to appear as an entity governing 30 competing franchises.
If they look like one company, they become a monopoly.
If those 30 franchises appear to be colluding, they run afoul of antitrust laws too.
The NBA can't come out and say they are keeping the team here forever or put it in writing, the choice of where to locate their franchise has to appear to be in the hands of the owners and not the NBA or things get very very murky.
That doesn't mean the other 29 owners can't veto a proposed move once that possibility is tangile and not theoretical.

There will be a shakedown for a new arena and slyly crafted relocation threats soon after power is transferred, mark my words.
It was inevitable no matter who bought the team. There will be talks of development and community and whatever other buzzwords sell because we now live in a world where PR is king and reality takes a back seat and building a new arena for a billionaire who owns a team that at times can attract fewer viewers on TV than the number of seats in said arena will solve all our problems, when a run down shack in the metro costs 300k these days.

[Calinks]

In all seriousness, I think there will be a push for a move within 5 or so years. Not out of state, I think they are going to push for a new arena, they aren't going to want to roll with the 30-year-old Target for long and I think they will get a new one in Minnesota. Maybe not Minneapolis though but I somewhere in the metro. There will be fights to prevent that but it will eventually happen and that will keep the team in Minnesota for the foreseeable future. I'm also pretty sure we are going to get another makeover within 5 years, probably to coincide with the arena. Target Center is on borrowed time.

I know TC has a lease until 2035 but no way I see them staying that long. They will be trying to get a new place built 10 years earlier.

[UnFadeable21]

Read on Twitter

The hammer dropped!!! AROD wants to move the team!

[Worm Guts]

Shooter isn’t entirely reliable. I would wait before jumping to conclusions.

[Cactus Jack]

Who the heck is Shooter?




This guy?

[UnFadeable21]

Who the heck is Shooter?




This guy?

Lol, he’s the sports reporter for one of the two major newspapers here in Minnesota.

Pioneer Press for Saint Paul and East Metro

Star Tribune for Minneapolis and West Metro

[UnFadeable21]

The sale of the Timberwolves will get finalized at some point soon, and columnist Chip Scoggins sees three conceivable possibilities for how things could play out under new ownership.

Star Tribune is reporting new ownership may try to relocate as well

[Cactus Jack]

Lol, he’s the sports reporter for one of the two major newspapers here in Minnesota.

Pioneer Press for Saint Paul and East Metro

Star Tribune for Minneapolis and West Metro

The way it's phrased it sounds like pure speculation on his part. Nothing more.

[Worm Guts]

That tribune article is worrying, where did he hear this? Doesn't seem to make sense with Glen saying he wants the team to stay, surely he would know if Arod is already putting it out there he wants to move the team but it's a legit source writing this so yea.

The tribune article or the pioneer press article? Shooter absolutely just puts stuff out there for attention.

[Klomp]

Who the heck is Shooter?




This guy?

Lol, he’s the sports reporter for one of the two major newspapers here in Minnesota.

Pioneer Press for Saint Paul and East Metro

Star Tribune for Minneapolis and West Metro

He's not a reporter, he's a columnist. And I wouldn't exactly expect him to have sources who know the inner thoughts of Alex Rodriguez.

[shrink]

Who the heck is Shooter?




This guy?

I gotta say, whenever Shooter’s name pops up, this is exactly what I picture, finger guns a ‘blazin.

[Cactus Jack]

Who the heck is Shooter?




This guy?

I gotta say, whenever Shooter’s name pops up, this is exactly what I picture, finger guns a ‘blazin.

Spoiler:

You can never go wrong with a Happy Gilmore reference.